


Each Part Necessary to the Whole

by sharkie335



Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Arc Reactor, Blow Jobs, Body Modification, Emotions, First Time, Hand Jobs, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-20
Updated: 2013-02-20
Packaged: 2017-11-29 23:53:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/692975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sharkie335/pseuds/sharkie335
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It turns out that Steve is interested.  Tony was oblivious.  Now he’s not.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Each Part Necessary to the Whole

**Author's Note:**

> This is downright fluffy for me! Thanks to shaenie for reading it over. Written for the body alteration/injury square of my kink_bingo card.

After Tony had turned the mansion in New York into the equivalent of a superhero fraternity, Pepper had come to him to talk. She loved him, she would always love him, but watching him put himself at risk in fight after fight, never knowing if he was going to make it home, had become too much. And he couldn’t even blame her for it. 

So he’d kissed her, gently, and let her go with a promise that he understood and that he’d always love her as well.

Ever since, he’d avoided sex. It was just easier. He was productive in the shop, he was integrating well with the Avengers, he was doing just fine with his right hand.

He didn’t need sex. He didn’t need companionship. He had a team.

Slowly, though, the team had become closer, become _more_. They ate breakfast together, more mornings than not. They had pasta nights and movie nights and bickered over what flavors of ice cream should be in the freezer. They were becoming a family.

Tony wasn’t quite sure what to do about it. He didn’t have any history to draw from, though he knew enough to know that this family was a whole lot more functional than his relationship had been with his own father. He especially didn’t know what to do about Steve.

Steve, who’d started spending hours quietly in the shop, sketching or reading or watching videos on his tablet. He didn’t force interaction with Tony when Tony didn’t want it. He was just _there_. And it was scary to realize that Tony was becoming used to it. 

One day he looked up, thinking that maybe they should go and grab lunch, and realized that Steve was just sitting there, staring at him. For a second, they just looked at each other, and then Steve’s face flushed bright red and he turned away.

And clearly Tony was going to have to turn in his genius card, because he didn’t put it together right away. It wasn’t until Steve stuttered out an excuse for why he couldn’t come to lunch and ran away that he realized that it was more than Steve being distracted. He thought about trying to find where Steve had gone and trying to talk it out, but he figured that Steve would react to that about as well as Tony would himself, so he turned his attention back to the repulsor in the left boot and figured that Steve would come back eventually.

Three days later, he wasn’t so sure about that. Steve’s sketchpad and tablet were still sitting on the couch, but he’d only seen Steve at group dinners, where it would be awkward at best to ask him what the hell was going on. He forced himself to smile, to argue with Clint about the usefulness of acid arrows and agree with Thor about how rocky road was better than butter pecan, but he couldn’t help watching Steve out of the corner of his eye. And what he saw was a man who was unhappy, but glueing a smile on top of it.

He went back to work after dinner, but he couldn’t focus on what was in front of him. He found himself sitting on the couch, and without thinking he picked up Steve’s sketchbook and flipped it open. What he found hit him like a punch to the gut.

It was picture after picture of Tony - Tony doing metal work, working with Jarvis’s diagrams, lost in thought. His first thought was that of course Steve was drawing pictures of Tony - that’s what he had in front of him here in the workshop. But the emotion in the pictures was so vivid that Tony could practically feel it rising from the page.

He set the book down on the couch and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and rubbing his forehead. Right now he really wished that he wasn’t as emotionally stunted as Pepper had called him, because he had no idea what to do. Clearly, something had to be done. Unfortunately he didn't even have an idea of what this meant, much less how to deal with it.

So for now, he decided to just bury himself even further in work, focusing on the damnable arrows that Clint wanted. He still wasn't sure that he'd be able to find an acid that would be useful in the field but safe for Clint to use under combat conditions, but at least trying gave him something other than Steve to think about.

Three hours later he looked up at the sound of the door being keyed open. He had to blink hard as his eyes were dry from staring at chemical formulas, but once he could see again he looked over and saw Steve standing just inside his workshop, his back to the door. "Everything okay?" he asked.

Steve shook his head no, but he wasn't shouting orders for the team, so Tony assumed that it wasn't an Avengers issue. That meant that Steve had finally decided to talk about whatever it was that had driven him out of the workshop in the first place.

Not for the first time, Tony wished he hadn't given in to Pepper's request that he take all the booze out of the shop. He suspected that this conversation would be a lot easier with a whole lot of Scotch. "So what's the problem?"

"Can we sit down?" Steve asked and that just confirmed that this was definitely not something he was going to enjoy.

Running away would only put this off, so Tony gave a quiet sigh and went over to the couch. He sat down and watched as Steve fought an obvious battle with himself about pushing away from the door and coming over as well. Eventually, though, they were both there, facing each other.

The silence stretched uncomfortably. If Tony had had any idea of what to say, he might have tried, but he was completely clueless. So he just kept his mouth shut and drank in the sight of Steve, fidgeting with the hem of his t-shirt. 

When Steve finally spoke, it actually startled Tony to the point that he didn’t hear what Steve said. “What?” Tony asked.

Steve rolled his eyes, but there was clear affection on his face as he said, “I’m sorry.”

“Um,” Tony hesitated. He wanted to make Steve tell him why he’d done it, why he’d been avoiding Tony, but he was more than a little afraid of the answer. So he just said, “It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not.” Steve looked down to where his fingers were twisting his shirt out of shape. “I just - I know it’s okay these days, but it was a lot to accept that it was still inside me. I won’t do anything about it, though.”

Blinking, Tony tried to force those words into something that made sense. He failed miserably, and he didn’t deal well with failure. “What’s ‘it’?” he asked, thinking that that might clue him in to what he was missing here.

Steve met his eyes, and hesitated, before blurting out, “The way I feel about you.”

Tony’s heart lurched in his chest. Steve didn’t - _couldn’t_ \- mean that the way it sounded. He had to be hallucinating this, because Tony didn’t get what he wanted like that, and even if he could possibly be that lucky, Steve was straight. Tony knew for a fact that Steve had been dating off and on since everyone had moved into the Avengers’ mansion, and that all of those dates had been women. He was even ninety percent sure that Steve had had sex.

This time it was Tony who looked away. “It’s okay,” he said, because what else could he say? He wanted his friend back, and if that meant pretending that Steve hadn’t just admitted to having some sort of feelings about him, then he would.

The silence was tense, as if neither of them knew what to say next. 

“I have one favor to ask,” Steve said quietly, after a moment that seemed to last for hours.

“Anything,” Tony said, meaning it.

Steve muttered something that sounded like, “You may regret that,” but before Tony could ask him to repeat it, Steve asked, “Can I have just one kiss? I promise to never ask again.”

This was something that Tony could do, and easily. He didn’t think that the aftermath would be as simple as Steve thought, though.

“Of course,” he said, simply, and shifted so that he was closer to Steve. Steve moved as well, close enough that Tony could feel his heat all down his side. 

Then Steve’s hands came down on his shoulders, turning him slightly. They were gentle and warm and huge, and it felt so good. Tony’s eyes fluttered shut in pleasure, and he could feel Steve changing position, pulling Tony closer.

The first tentative press of Steve’s lips to his own made Tony groan, and the soft swipe of Steve’s tongue across his lips encouraged him to open his own mouth, to let Steve inside.

They fit, with an almost audible click, and then what was supposed to be a simple kiss got real heated, real fast. One of Steve’s hands moved from Tony’s shoulder to his hair, tangling and pulling him in close. Not to be outdone, Tony slid his hands down over Steve’s ribs to the hem of his t-shirt, tugging cautiously, and when there was no objection, slipped his hands inside the shirt so that they were pressing against acres of warm, smooth skin.

They kissed and kissed and _kissed_ , and by the time they finally broke apart, Tony was dazed and surprised to find himself kneeling astride Steve’s thighs, both of them pressed close from hips to mouths. Tony was painfully hard, and he could feel Steve’s length pressed against his inner thigh.

Steve turned his head, not meeting Tony’s eyes, and tried to push him away. “Sorry,” he said, voice soft. “That, uh, got a little out of control.”

“Yeah,” Tony said. “Let’s do it again.”

That brought Steve’s face around so that he was looking right at Tony. “Really?” he said. “I mean, you don’t - “

Tony deliberately rolled his hips so that Steve could feel just what effect the kiss had had on him. “Really,” he said. “Steve, if this is something you want, I’m more than happy to give it to you. I’m just a little surprised -- I haven’t noticed you dating guys.”

The blush on Steve’s face was sudden and almost painful in its intensity. “That’s because I haven’t.”

Well, that was interesting. “Because you weren’t interested or for some other reason?”

Steve was now so red he was almost purple, but he was meeting Tony’s gaze levelly. “Because in my life there’s only been two men I was interested in. One fell off a mountain. The other has been oblivious for months but is now apparently sitting on my lap.”

Oh. _Oh._ “Oh,” Tony said softly. “Um, sorry? If it’s any consolation, no longer oblivious and very obviously good with it, so can we go back to the kissing?”

One of Steve’s hands came up, and the backs of his fingers traced a light path along Tony’s cheek. “Only if you really want to. I don’t want pity - not from anyone.”

“For god’s sake,” Tony said with a breathy laugh. “I climbed into your lap and tried to lick your tonsils. With no coercion from you, I might add. This is not pity. This is _lust_.”

The smile he got was blinding, but Steve still didn’t try to kiss him again. “I’ll see you lust and raise you love, possibly?”

“I call,” Tony said without hesitation and took the initiative, leaning forward to brush his lips over Steve’s. He was trying to keep it light, in case Steve wanted to, god forbid, talk more, but it seemed that Steve had said everything he felt he needed to say right now, because he opened his mouth to Tony’s with a soft moan.

They kissed until Tony’s mouth felt bruised and tender, and then they kissed some more. Tony was trying very hard to follow Steve’s lead, not wanting to shock him, so he kept his hands to fairly neutral territory - Steve’s shoulders, his ribs, his arms - but it didn’t take long for him to feel more than a little crazy, needing more.

Then Steve’s hand slipped under Tony’s shirt, rubbing over Tony’s stomach. That first touch felt better than it had any right to, and he nipped at Steve’s lip in approval. 

But when Steve started to tug at the edge of his t-shirt, he panicked a little. The only person he’d slept with since the arc reactor was Pepper, and she’d never dealt with it well. His first instinct was to pull his shirt out of Steve’s grip and keep it from going up, but this was going to be an issue sooner or later, and if it was going to be a problem, it would be better to know now than after he was in so deep that he couldn’t surface. So he let Steve tug it up and over his head, and said nothing.

He looked over Steve’s shoulder, not wanting to see the expression on his face when he was confronted with the reality of the device, with all the scars that went with it. The sound Steve made startled him, though. 

Before he could think better of it, he looked at Steve’s face, who was staring at his chest as expected, but there was a look of almost reverence there. It was strange and a little scary to see, and it made Tony want to kiss Steve even more. And thankfully, Steve seemed to be right on board with that, his mouth opening right up for Tony's.

As they kissed, Steven's hand slid up Tony's side, stroking over his ribs, his thumb pressing down on Tony's nipple just hard enough to make him gasp. Steve seemed to like that sound since he immediately did it again. "Fuck," Tony said. It had been a long time since something so simple had gotten to him so quickly.

Steve smiled up at him, and then shifted slightly. His free hand came up to rest in the small of Tony's back, pulling him forward, so that Steve could lick over his nipple before sucking lightly. Tony groaned, sliding his fingers into Steve's hair to hold him in place.

He was so focused on Steve's mouth that he forgot about his hand until there was a gentle touch along the seam where the arc reactor met his sternum. He jumped before he could stop himself, but Steve seemed ready for it, and steadied him with the hand on his back without moving the hand on his chest. He did lift his head, however, meeting Tony's eyes directly. "Not good?" he asked.

"It's not that," Tony said. "It's just - no one has ever touched it willingly. Not without wanting to hurt me in the process."

He didn't know how Steve would react to that, but he couldn't have predicted that Steve would lower his head and press a kiss right over the center of the reactor. Then Steve looked back up and said, "It's part of you. It keeps you alive. That makes it important. It makes it beautiful."

Tony was horrified at the broken sound he made in response, but Steve just smiled and kissed the reactor again. Then he bent over further, pressing his lips to the skin just below the device, and Tony groaned. He knew that the scar tissue was sensitive but he had had no idea just how much.

Steve didn't hesitate, placing small delicate kisses all around the reactor, occasionally pausing to lick or suck at the skin in some pattern known only to him. By the time he looked back up, Tony was breathing heavily from a combination of fear and lust. He knew Steve wasn't going to hurt him, but it was still scary.

But Tony wasn't going to let a little thing like fear and a pile of issues the size of Everest drive him away from the good thing that he had in Steve. So he slid his hands into Steve’s hair and tugged gently, pulling his head up so that their lips could meet in another blistering kiss.

Steve’s hands slid around to his back, and then down to Tony’s ass, pulling him even closer, and Tony groaned at the pressure on his cock. He reluctantly pulled away from Steve’s mouth to say, “What do you want? You can have anything.”

“I - “ Steve hesitated, and then said, “Can we take our pants off?”

Rather than answer, Tony tried to jump to his feet. He discovered, however, that that was difficult when he was hard enough to pound nails with his dick, and had to disentangle himself a little more carefully. As soon as he was standing, however, he wasted no time in toeing off his shoes, and undoing his pants. Pushing them off with his underwear into one big tangle, he looked back up to see Steve still sitting on the couch, his mouth hanging open.

“Uh...” Tony said, scratching the back of his neck and resisting the urge to cover himself with his hands, “Too fast?”

Steve shut his mouth with an audible click, and then said, “No. I guess I really thought you were humoring me.”

“Really, _really_ not,” Tony said. “And now that that’s out there, you’re still wearing your pants. Can we correct that?”

Tony couldn’t help but admire the reappearance of Steve’s blush, but thankfully Steve stood up and took off his shoes and pants, leaving them both naked. And _holy shit_ , that was impressive.

When Steve glanced over his shoulder at the door to the workshop and blushed even harder, some of the blood returned to Tony’s brain, and he said, “Jarvis. Opaque the windows and lock it down. No one gets in unless there’s an honest to god emergency.”

“Understood,” Jarvis said, and the windows went black. 

A look of relief passed over Steve’s face, and then Tony found himself being turned and pushed down on the couch. He expected to have Steve kiss him some more, so when Steve went to his knees between Tony’s legs, he thought he could be forgiven for the complete lack of brain function remaining.

Steve met his eyes squarely, and said, “I haven’t done this before. Tell me if I’m doing it wrong.” Before Tony could guess what “this” was, Steve had licked a long stripe up the side of his cock. 

“Christ,” Tony breathed out, digging his fingers into the cushions of the couch to keep from grabbing Steve’s head. “Oh, Christ, _Steve_.”

He hadn’t recovered from that shock when Steve opened his mouth and sucked in the head of Tony’s cock. God, his mouth was so good, so hot and wet, and it had been so long since Tony had had his dick sucked that the lift of his hips was instinctive.

Steve just grabbed him by the hips and held him down as he slowly worked his mouth up and down Tony’s cock. Tony whimpered as Steve licked around the head of his cock as his head moved, and this was going to be the shortest blowjob since Tony was fourteen and getting his first one.

Then Steve went a little too low, and promptly choked on the head of Tony’s cock. He pulled back, coughing, and it effectively derailed Tony’s onrushing orgasm. Instead, he rested his palm against Steve’s face. “Breathe,” he said.

It took a couple of seconds for Steve’s breathing to even back out, and then he looked up at Tony. “Sorry,” he said, chagrined.

“For what?” Tony asked. “For blowing my mind?”

“For not knowing what I was doing,” Steve said, his voice a little hoarse.

“Don’t worry about it,” Tony said. “You’ll learn.” Then he froze, because he honestly didn’t know if this was going to happen again, and he didn’t want to assume. But he wanted. Oh, _fuck_ , he wanted.

“I will.” Steve flashed him a quick grin, and some of the tension drained out of Tony’s shoulders. 

“In the meantime, I have a brilliant idea,” Tony said. “Up. Get up.”

Steve looked puzzled but climbed to his feet obediently enough, which let Tony tug him forward. Soon enough their earlier positions were reversed, with Steve kneeling astride Tony. This time there weren’t any pants in the way, and their cocks were nestled next to each other. Tony reached down and wrapped his hand as far around them as he could get it, and it only took Steve a second to match him with one of his own hands.

Slowly, Tony started to move his hand, Steve following along. It was amazing - Tony had tried damn near everything, and he couldn’t remember very many things that had felt as good as a simple handjob was feeling. 

Steve’s other hand came up to rest on the arc reactor, his thumb rubbing idly at the point where it joined his chest. After a brief surge of panic that Tony choked down, he let himself just concentrate on how good it felt. Steve was being gentle, almost worshipful in the way that he was touching the reactor, and it warmed Tony from the inside out.

The two points of contact were so different in context - the hand around his cock downright hot, the hand on his chest tender - but they were combining in his head like some sort of alchemy, forming a reaction that he vaguely recognized from his time with Pepper. But even then, it had been overhung with her nervousness about the reactor and his chosen life as a superhero. This had none of that.

When Steve tightened his hand around Tony’s cock, Tony gasped harshly. “Yes, just like that,” he whispered, not wanting to break the moment. But his orgasm was suddenly in sight, tightening the muscles in his back and thighs, the nerves starting to fire, and he was so close, so close...

“Yes,” Steve gasped, which brought Tony’s eyes up to his face. He realized that Steve was just as close, and it was that thought that pulled Tony to the edge and shoved him off. 

He just managed to keep going on Steve’s cock, even though he basically wanted to melt back into the couch from one of his best orgasms _ever_. It didn’t take much, though, because within a few moments Steve was coming too, coming _hard_ from the look of it.

Lightening his touch, he stroked Steve through his orgasm till he twitched and pushed Tony’s hand away, obviously oversensitive. Tony let his hand rest on Steve’s thigh, watching Steve’s face until he opened his eyes again. “You okay?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Steve said. “Better than. You?”

“Fan-fucking-tastic,” Tony said. “Maybe we should move to someplace that, I don’t know, has an actual bed? We’d probably be more comfortable.”

Steve grinned at him. “Yeah, we could do that.” He slid off of Tony’s lap and stood up, heading to the workshop sink to wash his hands. Tony followed his lead, getting cleaned up as well, and then they haphazardly pulled on their pants and shoes. Before Tony could pull his t-shirt back on, though, Steve stopped him with a hand on his arm.

“What?” he asked.

“Just... this,” Steve said, before he bent down and kissed him over the arc reactor again. When he straightened, his face was flaming, but he didn’t say anything.

Tony just said, “Thank you. I love you too,” before pulling on his shirt.

Steve relaxed as Tony had apparently guessed the message correctly. Once they were finished dressing, Tony instructed Jarvis to clear the windows, and they left the workshop to go to Tony’s room.

Behind them, the workshop went dark.


End file.
